Low Performing 9800GX2

Gday All,

Recently i bought a XFX 9800GX2 & a Viewsonic 28" Monitor,

My current setup well its old but anyways.

Windows XP Home
Amd Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ Socket 939 (2.0GHZ)
Asus A8N SLI Premium MB
2gigs DDR Ram - 4x 512mb @ 400Mhz
My PSU is a http://www.corsair.com/products/hx.aspx

My graphics card is attached below

With the latest Drivers

And also have ran 3dMARK06 once on each monitor to check if it was the bottleneck for the crap score on the 28" and the 19" and both scored between 7000-8000, Can anyone pls help me and tell me whats going on is my CPU the bottleneck which is holding my score back by 5000 ?

My last score was

3DMark Score
7632 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score
3211
SM 3.0 Score
4186
CPU Score
1535

I remember my 7800GTX used to have a better score back then, All tests were run on 3DMark06 Demo version on default settings, here is also a screen shots of CPUz

Yeah i am going to upgrade soon, But is it the CPU thats holding the score back ?

Any suggestions on what MB, CPU & Ram to upgrade to ? to achieve a way higher score & if i do build my new PC do i take the PSU with it as well or do i need something bigger, also is 28" monitor fine all should i exchange for a 24" just concered..

Was running the max 19" 1028x1204 something liek that and tried maxing the 28" and and still the same score but slightly different ? What do you reckon do an upgrade or just leave my PC how it is, if so what parts you reckon

Not sure if theres any optys left, but get a fast dual opty, at least a 2.4 opty 180 I believe or redo your whole rig

That CPU is killing your 3dmark06 scores, and yes is slow enough to hurt your gameplay with that beast of a card.

Look at my 3dmark scores with a single low clocked XFX 8800GS and you see how much CPU impacts 3dmark06 scores.

Its time for you to get a CPU, Motherboard, and RAM upgrade.
CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115037
Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131277
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227289

That is the type of computer i would be running with that 9800Gx2

my system is also underperforming with a 9800gx2 i cant play crysis @ 1680x1050 very high no aa. i like get 24fps avg.

yup gpuz says enabled 2. since the 9800gx2 is 2 cards if one board went bad couldnt it be working with the other board? maybe i board is defected and i noticed that everyone has a blue led on the 9800gx2 lit, mine isnt on. can that be a problem?

To be honest, if that is Vista DX10 very high, even the mighty GX2 will struggle at that resolution. Win XP DX9 very high hack is a different story as fps are much higher. I would think like me, 16x10 High 2x/16x would be very playable. DX10 very high is another story.

Take a look, this is probably a scripted timedemo (gpu benchmark) not actual gameplay that would often give lower fps.
http://www.digit-life.com/articles [...] -pcie.html
http://www.digit-life.com/articles [...] -pcie.html


If you look at tri sli (3*8800U) reviews, you'll see how much dual 8800U actually struggle in crysis very high. And a single 8800U... forget about it.
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardwar [...] /page4.asp
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] i=3183&p=4

now it seems fine i thought something was wrong with my card, but its sad 9800gx2 cant even play the game at very high. shame the 9800gx2 cant max crysis yet. i think im gonna return my 9800gx2 since i have about 1 wk left. ill wait for the gtx 280. =]

I can run crysis very high at 1920:S thats weird, ofc frames drop once in a while:S

@OP

You CPU and Ram are holding you back.

You could get a P35 mobo under $100 and put a $69 e2180 in, and overclock it to 3.0 with some DDR2 800 ram for about $220 total. Then when you save some more you could get a better dual core or even a quad if you like.

ya it cost alot i bought it for like 530$ the gtx 280 is supposedly pricing around $500+ but its a hell of a card looking at the specs. nvidia might not charge as much because of cheap ati cards.

That seems low, but it is the demo that may not be well optimized for SLI. The retail patched game, it seems you should get higher. link below from the same review as above.

http://www.driverheaven.net/review [...] &pageid=19

If your up to it, you could try OCing your current proc. If you can get it up into the 2.6-2.8 range, you'll still be bottlenecked, but should improve things considerably.

3dmark06 isn't even a worthy test for your card at default settings. It will only beat a G92 GTS by 1,500-2000 points with a high end CPU. But stress it in a demanding part of Oblivion or Crysis and it could beat that same GTS by 80+%.

Trust me it's not. I have 100+ hours benching Crysis and Oblivion on numerous cards. Notice I said GPU demanding areas not the whole game.

I'll gladly share some proof of single 8800GT vs SLI 8800GT if you like.

For starters here is a fraps benchmark run of actual gameplay at 16x10 high 0x/16x through paradise lost. (The icy level, escorting Prophet after his suit fails). With 2xaa, the % is higher.

I thought we were talking 8800gts vs 9800 gx2 ?

Basically the same thing. What's a 9800GX2, but two G92 GTS GPU's each on a PCB sandwiched together. 9800GX2 basically = 8800GTS G92 SLI. Not exact, but close enough... both scaling like SLI.

Here- Oblivion & Crysis:
http://firingsquad.com/hardware/nv [...] page12.asp
http://firingsquad.com/hardware/nv [...] /page8.asp



And, it's not just high res. How about Crysis 12x10 very high. 30.6 fps for the GX2, 18.1 for a single G92 GTS. http://www.digit-life.com/articles [...] -pcie.html

No problem, and thanks.

It's important to note that not all games, all settings, all levels of a game see the same scaling. far from it. Aslo, the difference SLI, or even a GX2 like yours often makes it the ability to crank fsaa. I'm an fsaa junkie and really need 2x at 16x10 to get the most enjoyment gaming. I'd prefer at minimum to play all games at 4x/16x. For me, SLI pays off well.

I'd like to see your results. Crysis benching varies by level. Your card will really shine in certain levels. Fraps benching is IMO best, but I use both fraps and scripted demos. If you want to do alot of testing with ease without spending a ton of time, grab the Crysis benchmark utilities from Guru3d and HOC. I use both of these, but don't pay attention to the minimum reported from the guru3d one as it is carried over from the first run where fps chug a bit. It throws out that run for the average, but not the minimum.

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1791
http://downloads.guru3d.com/HOC-Cr [...] -1885.html


Hey, if you question your cards performance in crysis, we could compare HOC gpu benchies as I too run a 3.0GHz Q6600. Your GX2 should beat my SLI 8800GT setup , but I run Win XP so I'd think my results may be a bit higher even if we run all high details. Anyway, just an option if you think your results are lower than you expect.

Sounds good. I may not be as fast. It's my turn on the wii fit in a few minutes. What resolution(s) you doing?

I'll have to do it tomorrow. Your DX10 high results look great. Was that the Crytec GPU bench? (island map)

The wii fit is my wife's. I waited in line on Wednesday morning to grab one on releases day as we had told her that was her mother's day gift. I'm kinda addicted to it playing 60+ minutes a day.

Some beautiful Screens I took after benchmarking...my god the water is nice and the shadow effects!!!!

Take a look











P.S Pauldh during the benchmark the clock was set to 9 oclock in morning no AA just 1280x1024 and the settings above

thank You, when ever I was covered in ice it would drop the frames to 30-40:S really harsh...turned off shadows and they were back up at 60+